Watching Raceday today, they have gone on & on how Chad changes how teams do things. They were refering to having a an extra pitcrew to pick from. SHR was doing that last year, long before Chad considered it. Yet everyone on the show was giving Chad all the credit for the idea.

CONCORD, N.C. -- When the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing team of driver Ryan Newman struggled with its pit stops at the beginning of last season, observers shrugged it off as an example of growing pains a new organization must endure.

Tony Stewart is surrounded by Daytona 500 mementos -- none of which are his. However, Daytona isn't a personal quest; it's a race he can joke about not winning.

Later in the season when the No. 14 team of driver Tony Stewart, Newman's boss and teammate, lost jack man Mike Casto to a knee injury and had to scramble the find someone of the same quality to replace him, it was considered bad luck.

Bobby Hutchens, director of competition for Stewart-Haas, looked at all of the above and saw a way to prevent such heartaches in the future. With that in mind, this year Hutchens has quietly gone about building a third pit crew for the organization that currently fields only two Sprint Cup cars.

Stewart-Haas will train the third crew regularly along with the crews that will start the season in the pits for the No. 14 and No. 39 Chevrolets, but will loan the extra crew out to the No. 71 team of TRG Motorsports on race days. The deal to loan them out comes with the stipulation that any of the crew members can be recalled to the Stewart-Haas stable if Hutchens and Stewart decide a change is in order on one of the Stewart-Haas pit crews, or if any members of the Stewart-Haas pit crews become injured.

It is an innovative move that doesn't come cheaply, but Hutchens and Stewart said they are confident it will pay dividends during the upcoming 2010 season and perhaps beyond.

"We've all probably had developmental people working on other [teams'] cars in the past, but I don't know about just having a core group like what we're trying to do here," Hutchens said. "It was a tough thing to put together from a personnel and economic standpoint to make it be right for our company and for TRG. We worked real diligently in the last week or two to pull it off, and we feel really good about it for both companies. That's the thing: I think it's a win-win for both companies."

Hutchens said it is key that the extra crew guys who will work at Stewart-Haas during the week will gain valuable over-the-wall race-day experience pitting the No. 71 Chevy driven by Bobby Labonte each week

"So now our guys are getting reps and going over the wall. I've had a lot of guys who could change a tire or jack a car behind the shop -- but when you got out on pit road, it was a whole different story," Hutchens said. "So hopefully we'll get this crew put together and that'll give us some depth on the pit crew. Hopefully then we won't have any more issues with our two cars, and at the same time hopefully it will help Labonte and the 71 guys."

Despite the added expense to the operation he now heads up, Stewart said he obviously is in agreement with Hutchens that it will be well worth it in the long run.

There is another factor at work in the equation as well. Hutchens and Stewart said that when and if a third team is added to the operation -- which Hutchens admitted could be as soon as 2011 -- a well-trained, seasoned pit crew already will be in place for the new car.

"It's like in other sports: you don't just play with the guys on the field; you've got to have guys on the bench who are ready to go in at any time, too," Stewart said. "I think that's the crucial part of why we started that third pit crew this year. If somebody's getting in a slump and not getting it done, we need to have somebody we know we can go to.

"I think at times last year we had guys on Ryan's pit crew who weren't giving us what we wanted, but we had no one else that we could go to. We didn't have any options. To be able to have that third group there, if there is a position that needs to be filled, we're going to feel like now we can go to the bench. And if a third team develops down the road, we're not going to be in that position of not being able to get guys. We'll have that third pit crew already there and can just build on it, and then just build up another reserve of guys behind that and keep it going."

Tony Gibson, Newman's crew chief, admitted that he and his driver were displeased with the overall performance of the No. 39 pit crew much of last season. And while several changes were made during the season, Gibson said he felt like his options were severely limited.

"It goes back to the start of last year, when we were really struggling on the pit-stop side," Gibson said. "We would come in first, second or third and go out eighth or ninth. It's hard to recover from that.

"So what Bobby has tried to do is get a group of guys and hire 'em. A lot of guys' contracts were up at the end of the year -- and Bobby has done a good job of getting in there and trying to get them on our side, trying to build a third pit crew. Because if a guy gets hurt or something, you've got to be able to plug in a guy who is just as good.

"If you're leading the Daytona 500 and you've got two stops to go, and you put in a tire changer who is second slower, you're in trouble. You can't give up anything on pit road anymore. A second on pit road is 4 seconds on the race track."

Newman said there is even more to it than being able to plug in another guy in case of an emergency. He said just having quality extra guys available in reserve should push the current pit-crew members on the No. 14 and the No. 39 to higher performance levels.

"I don't think anybody looks at them as extra guys -- because they're not. They're guys who are fully capable of doing what they do," Newman said. "My point is that we don't have a Nationwide [Series] team to pull somebody from; we have not had the capabilities of someone being there to provide a backup -- whether it's an entire crew or a fuel man or a tire changer. It's nice to have if somebody gets injured or somebody has a bad attitude. That's helps with some of that stuff.

"To me, and I'm sure this is how Tony looks at it, there are plenty of drivers out there willing to take our seats. They're willing to say yes sir and no sir in every conversation and everything is going to be great. And we respect that. From a tire changer's standpoint, if he knows there is somebody over there who has a better attitude than him or maybe is capable of changing a tire faster than him, that's going to make him step up his game. So it helps the organization all the way around."

Interesting article. Thanks for posting it. I think Chad is a cocky little SOB and his attitude makes it hard to like the man... respect his talent, maybe, but I hate his condescending attitude. And I am not sure where would he be without Hendricks and JJ? (That said they are a #### good team!)

Now I wasnt saying Chad was taking credit for it (not sure if he does or not), but that the guys on Raceday was giving him the credit for it. Saying just another way Chad is changing the sport.SHR was doing it the 71 team last year & were already doing it with the 78 team this year. I actually like Tony's way better. Not only is he helping an underfunded team, but SHR back up guys get live practice during a real race. Not just being test dummies at the shop.